Dancing in Nature

Every Friday recently, in the unlikely setting of a barn in the San Francisco Bay area countryside, I have been taking glorious classes that have inspired a way to bring a deeper connection of healing for me with the Earth. These classes are based on the teachings of Rudolph Steiner and are called the dances of the Choreocosmos. Yesterday we danced the movements of the four elements of Nature to soaring classical music played beautifully on a grand piano.

These classes have created an inspiring and moving experience for me that helps me feel deep mystical roots to the ancient wisdom offered to us by Nature right now. My love and respect for this gracious planet is renewed every Friday and my heart is deeply touched. The intention behind the dances that honor the elements is to bring healing energy to the earth and honor the earth in a way it deserves. By connecting our beings with Mother/Father God and uniting Heaven and Earth through us we can be in harmony with the gifts available on many levels. It is a blessing to bring back the sacredness with which the Earth was once held, and can be again when we honor and sanctify the lives we live on this planet.

It feels like dancing in Nature and honoring the Earth, is an intention that any of us can have when we move upon the earth with love and respect, whether a grand piano is present or not. I am not a great student of Rudolph Steiner but I do appreciate teachings that bring in the elementals, the stars and the planets in greater awareness to expand our consciousness. I find these experiences richly rewarding, expansive and renewing. I just wanted to share some of my feelings from yesterday.

With 12 beautiful women and soaring classical music, we dance with the intention to step lightly kissing the Earth with every step. Each dance honors a different element and offers our hearts and bodies to the movement and sounds they represent, and our blood entrains with the gift of each elemental. When I dance, it stimulates my imagination as I remember a time when we honored the earth and lived in harmony with the ancient wisdom that Nature offers us.

Each Friday, as the morning awakens under the Grandmother Oak, the winds, the mists of fog, and the sun reflects on the deer, turkeys, coyotes and other beings who share that beautiful place. Earth’s majesty embraces us as we come together in the sacred dance. With every breath we breathe in the gifts of the air, with every heartbeat we find oneness with the fire in the earth, and our blood resonates with the sacred waters as they come into purity. We step lightly on the Earth but purposefully together, being aware of each other, but honoring the circle that as a greater whole working in harmony. We offer all that we do to the sanctification of the planet.

Our prayers are that the sacredness of the Earth to be returned to all peoples, and through our intentions we pray for the healing of all the elements on the planet. We bring our loving respect and honor to the Earth and bless it with our harmonious movement, our voices and our intentions. We dance to become a bridge between Heaven and Earth, and ask that the Mother/Father God be represented and honored within us.

May we dance in harmony with the Earth and all of Nature together.

So be it.

Shanta Gabriel
October 1, 2011

More information on the dances of Choreocosmos on KarenRivers.info